Explore with Viking—The Netherlands

See the picturesque Dutch countryside as you explore The Netherlands’ world-famous cheeses and windmills. Visiting a cheese farm, get an in-depth look at how one of The Netherlands’ top products is made. Upon arrival, enjoy a walk around the farm with your hosts, busy farmers making their living off the earth. Later, meet the cheese makers who patiently create their product from fresh milk and learn the craft, process and history of cheese making, which dates back to pre-Christian times. By lesson’s end, there will be plenty of cheese for sampling. You will also visit Kinderdijk’s 19 historic windmills, the largest group in The Netherlands and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In South Holland’s polder lands, these windmills stand like sentinels. Learn why the mills were built and how they operate, even stepping into a working windmill to observe its mechanics and living quarters.

Pedal along dikes, admiring the scenery through quiet villages and past flower fields. Join your local guide on a meandering e-bike tour that introduces you to the best the region of Western Friesland has to offer. Meet your guide at the pier, then don your helmet and after a short safety briefing, hop up on your e-bike. Pedal with ease as you travel along a dike, and witness how the land on the inside of the dike is considerably lower than the water level on the outside. After passing through small towns and past a stately windmill, you will enter the flower-growing farms of North Holland. Learn about the economic importance of Holland’s fresh-cut flower industry, then set out for a ride through the streets of Hoorn, past its main square and remnants of the old fortifications. Return to your ship feeling energized and invigorated.

Peruse the work of the Dutch Masters, cruise Amsterdam’s charming waterways and visit a patrician museum. Meet your guide and drive to the city’s picturesque Museumplein, or Museum Square. Visit the galleries of the world-renowned Rijksmuseum, home of Rembrandt’s most famous masterpiece, The Night Watch. After time to explore the museum’s collection, some of it commissioned by the wealthy merchant class of the Dutch Golden Age, board a boat for a relaxing cruise through the city’s endless network of canals. After lunch, continue on foot to one of the city’s patrician canal house museums. Here, gain insight into the lives of Amsterdam’s 17th-century elite. View period furnishings, artwork and elegant rooms and gardens that look much as they did when the wealthy filled their coffers with profits from the burgeoning overseas spice trade. Note: This tour involves significant walking and may not be suitable for guests with mobility issues.

Walk the flower-lined footpaths of one of the most renowned flower gardens in the world. Every spring, a vibrant, multihued carpet blankets the 70 acres at Keukenhof Gardens. Some 7 million flowers are said to bloom here: tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, lilies, bluebells, crocuses and countless others form graceful ribbons along pathways and brooks and fill greenhouses and fields to bursting. Stroll among 100 varieties of tulips on these 15th-century hunting grounds. Breathe in glorious scents as you loop through Gerbrand’s circular garden and mingle among sculptures and statuary. Admire Keukenhof Castle, where a countess once sorted herbs in her “kitchen garden.” You can also step back in time in the historical garden, where old tulip varieties and 17th-century daffodils grace a castle’s garden.

Discover Nijmegen’s role in World War II and learn about the liberation of the city. See the Waal Bridge and listen as your guide tells fascinating stories about Operation Market Garden, the Allied forces’ plan to take the main bridges at Arnhem, Nijmegen and Eindhoven. However, the Germans were waiting, the operation failed, and Arnhem proved to be a “bridge too far.” Pay tribute to 2,610 souls who gave their lives at the Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek. Afterward, visit the Freedom Museum and hear about the lives of local residents during World War II, including accounts that highlight the bravery of the people of Nijmegen. You will learn how they successfully overcame the failed operation, the rebuilding of the cities and the successful integration of the neighboring nations to create a united Europe.